Trends show that in the past three years society has become more “aware,” if not obsessed with, what it means to be healthy. You’ve probably seen many articles describing how to be happy with your body or fast acting diets. What exactly makes a person healthy? Working as a wellness coach has taught me a lot about how people perceive themselves based on the media’s answer of this question. Some background information about myself. I am not exactly a slim fit. I am a curvy, solid human being. I am not a professional nutritionist. This is just a summary of a few things I have learned about what it really means to be healthy.

First off, I support being happy in your skin and loving your body, but it won’t do a whole lot for your self-confidence if you choose to change nothing about an unhealthy lifestyle. Unhealthy food does more than just make you gain weight. The chemicals in processed food can change the chemical balance in your brain, and you can develop serious addictions to these foods. Bad habits such as stress eating or binge eating can alter your relationship with food and with yourself. This is where I think people get confused with actually being healthy and having a healthy perception of one’s self. Science shows unhealthy foods can lead you to have low energy, depression, low immunity and crashes. These are all negative feelings, so it's safe to say that after awhile they can leave you with a pretty bad image of who you are and what you look like. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a difference when you look in the mirror, just don’t push it to the extreme.

Secondly, food. Your relationship with food is obviously a huge factor in what determines if your healthy or not. I was recently told that I had a chance of developing diabetes. This was a tough wake up call for a person who loves chocolate, but it honestly was not a surprise. I didn’t feel great when I was eating all those sweets and it showed. I switched over to healthier options and lots of gym time and my energy levels shot up. Your body needs a healthy balance to survive, but you should want to do more than just survive -- be healthy and happy! There are a wide variety of healthy food options you can choose from even if you like to go out and eat as much as I do, and even more if you enjoy cooking at home. Another key part to your relationship with food is portions. Portion size is everything. Ever wonder why that person never gains weight? They’re probably portioning themselves and balancing it out with exercise. I can eat all the grilled chicken and quinoa I want, but if I don’t exercise and portion it out, it goes from being a positive to a negative pretty quickly. You should also make sure you are consuming a healthy amount of calories for your body and not skipping meals. I cannot stress how important it is to actually eat! If you’re anything like me and you get “hangry” pretty quick, that's because your blood sugar levels are dropping. You begin to feel tired, you can't think and worst of all, you're more likely to make up the meal with a stop at the food court or drive through.

Being healthy is about feeling healthy and about going for that doctors appointment and knowing you have a clean bill of health. I refuse to tell anyone that being healthy is just about what they see on the outside. Only healthy habits create a healthy body and I promise you, positive results. Love your body enough to take care of it, make it last as long as it can, and feel great doing it.